Kenai - Salmon Fishery #2

Yes, we went back to the BeachM Fishery and got some more fish!

Actually, Benny and Marie wanted some sockeye (reds) salmon and asked if we would like some.  We said, Maybe, not to sure if we have room in our little freezer.  But by the time we got there, we had made up our minds to get some.  Marie had called out to the Fishery and they didn't have any right now.  But the boats would back in in an hour so she thought they would have some for us.  And they did:

We got three fish - 7, 8, and 9 pounds. 

They filleted them for us and we took them to a Processor and got them freeze-wrapped.  And they DO fit in the freezer!!

Again, we took the backbones and Marie made salmon patties (just the meat from 3 backbones equalled about 16 -18 patties!!).

On the way there, we saw a moose in the ditch along road - she didn't pay any attention to us.

That night we went to another ballgame and when we got back to the RV, I thought you might like to see how dark it is getting at night now (NOT)!!  This was taken about 10:30 PM looking to the West - the sun is just behing the trees.

This one is looking East over the school (I thought it was supposed to be dark in that direction!).

We also went over the the Kenai River Friday afternoon to watch the dipnetting.  The tide was coming in and the fish like that so there was alot of activity.  We took our lawn chairs and sat on the bank for about an hour and a half just watching the action.  

This guy and his dog were headed to the bank to fish.

Sunday is the last day for fishnetting.  But you can still use a rod and reel for another month or so.  Today  Judy and I drove over to Soldotna to do some shopping and also to stop at the Visitor Center and go down to the river and watch them fish.  Notice how close together they fish.

This lady just caught one.

And you can clean them right along the river.

And when someone catches a fish and brings it out of the water, someone else is taking their place.  I saw this cartoon in the paper recently.

We saw a sign at a Medical Building the other day that said:  "Fish hooks Removed."  And we can believe it!

We went back to the Kassik Brewery to return our bottle and buy some of their specialty ales.  I thought these signs said it all.

We attended the final Oilers game on Saturday night - free admission, free hot dogs, and free coke.  What more could you ask for?

Tomorrow we leave Kenai and head down the Sterling Highway to Homer for a week.

Kenai - Salmon Fishery

On Monday of this week, Judy and I and the Benson’s drove over to Kasilof for a FREE tour of salmon fishing.  Double-click on the map - Kasilof is south of Soldotna.

We drove about 15 miles, then turned onto a smaller side road until we found the parking area.  It seemed like we were in the middle of nowhere, and, as a result, weren’t too sure why anyone would come out here, especially on a Monday.  But, we found it and parked in this open area.  All that was there was one small old building, a Jeep and two women standing nearby.  We walked over to them and shortly more people came.  Turns out one of the women was Elizabeth Chase (the mother) and she gave us all a history of her family and how they got in the fish business.    

This family, the Chase’s, have their own fishery called the BeachM (per the first letters of each family member - Brian, Elizabeth, Aaron, Caleb, Hannah, and Michael. 

She then took us on a path to the bluff overlooking Cook Inlet. 

From there she told us that they own/lease the water from the beach out 1 1/2miles and about ½ to 1 mile wide.  They currently have 12 nets strung out at various places in the water.  As the salmon swim up the inlet heading for the Kasilof and Kenai Rivers to spawn, they get caught in the nets.  And then the family harvests them.

The amazing facts are that the season only runs from about June 12 to mid-August.   And they can only put their nets out on Mondays and Thursdays from 7 AM to 7 PM.  If their nets are found in the water at any other time, they are heavily fined by the Fish & Game.  So they put them out in the AM, go out a 1PM and remove the fish, bring them to shore, weigh them, and put them in big coolers.  Then they go out again around 5 and get the fish again and bring in the nets.  If the salmon decide to come in to spawn and are more than 1 1/12 miles out, they don’t get any fish.

The family has been doing it for 18 years now so they know all the rules.  They have to call the F&G about 3 times a day to check for any updates.  If the F&G knows that many more fish are coming up the Inlet, they may let them leave their nets out longer.  But the reverse might be true also.  If the fish are too far out, the drifters (boats) get them.

Anyway, we stood on the bluff for about an hour watching their 3 boats (with 3 guys in each boat) go out and check the nets for fish, and she told us what they were doing.

Here they are trying to get one boat in the water.

 And here they are checking a net for fish.  If you double-click, you can see it more clearly.

They drag the net accross the boat, take out the fish, and put them in the boat.  When they came in, they had about 9 fish - 3 Kings, a couple of sockeye and 4 pinks.

We went back to the parking area and she talked more about salmon fishing.  We also had to have our pictures taken.

Near the end of the tour, she asked if anyone was interested in purchasing any fish.  The 4 of us said that we were so we followed her back to her house.  She showed us the fish that they had in the tank and we selected this one.

A 39 lb King Salmon – the filet mignon of fish.

She then proceeded to filet the fish by herself.

We ended up with 26 lbs of fish – 13 packages.  We had them shrink wrapped and flash frozen.

Here are our 6. 

 We paid a total of $217 which comes out to about $8.35 per lb.  Bet you can’t find that price in the grocery stores!

After she had cut out the filets, she told us than the backbone still had a lot of meat on it and that we should bake it just like it is and then pick the meat off and eat it. So that night we did that.  We thought we would eat that and also the 13^th package together and then we would each have 6 packages.  Well, before we actually got the potatoes baking and the filet on the grill, we realized that the meat off the backbone would be more than enough!!  So we saved the potatoes and the filet until Tuesday night!  Both were delicious.

So now we have another 12 lbs of King Salmon in our freezer for future feasts. We were all just overwhelmed at how great this day turned out to be!!

8th Alaskan Stop - Hope (NOT)

Last Tuesday, (7/19) we left Seward and drove north to Hope.  As with most roads in AK, there is only one road in and one road out.  If you look on the map (double click on it), you can see where it is.  Hope is along the Turnagain Arm Bay.

Well, except for a couple of signs along the road, you would never know that you are in Hope.  It's like a dense forest so you can't see much.  We did find the street that the school is on (address was not correct so we drove by it the first time).  We were able to get turned around and made it to the school.

NOW---

According to the school map we had, our parking space was to be behind the school.  When we walked back there, it was all grass, no drive to get back there.  The maintenance man at the Seward school thought our parking area would be by the generator shed.  So we looked there.  Yes, there is an electrical outlet - 20 amp - and a water hookup, but you need a key to open it up and hook up!!  And, if the power were to go off, there is no way to reset the circuit breaker.  No one at the school so we called the two contacts that we had - one was an invalid number and no answer at the other one. 

We called the head of the program in Soldotna - she is on vacation.  We talked with her boss - he knows nothing.  So we said we want to go back to the Middle School in Kenai if no one is there.  He didn't have a problem  with that so we left the school.  But by now we were hungry so we drove a little further into town (??), found a restaurant (in some trees!), had good hamburger ($12!!) and a BLT ($8).

We decided to see what else the town might have to offer so we drove a little further and came to a sign that says "Road ends ahead, no turnarounds."  Here we are - going past the sign and not knowing what's up ahead!  Anyway, we do get to the end of the road, and there is a small turnout so we do get turned around (after a few "go forward, go back, go forward, go back - if you get the picture!!).

We made it back to Kenai and are in our old spot in back of the school. 

We decided to stay here because we have the fishing trip coming up on the 5th. 

Our next stop, when we leave here, will be Valdez, but to go there now and have to come back here would be too much driving.  As with most AK towns, there is only one road in and one road out.  And we would have to leave the Kenai Peninsula and go all the way back to Anchorage to get on the road to Valdez.

The Benson's, who were also at the Seward School with us, are here too, at an elementary school.  So we have been getting together again.  Last night we toured a brewery called Kassiks, sampled some beer, bought a growler (half gallon) of beer, and later, went to the Oilers game.  We were actually comfortable at the game until about the 8th inning and then we put on our heavier coats!!

Not much in the way of pictures this time - sorry.

We did see on the news last night that Sterling Highway (see map) is closed (at least overnight) due to two separate accidents and three people were killed.  This is prime dip-netting time for salmon so the highway was extremely busy. 

On Thursday of this week we did stop at a fishing spot along the Kenai River about 8 PM (where the salmon are running now) and watched the fisherman for awhile.  If you are a resident of AK, you can dipnet your fish.  The Kenai River season is only from July 10th to July 31st.  Some people have a net with a 5 ft. hoop and a long pole (10-12 ft).  Basically, they push their net in the water and wade in up to their waist and wait for the fish to swim in. 

The limit is 25 fish for the permit holder and 10 for each additional household member.
Rules for dipnetting and for fishing (for salmon) are very complicated.  They say that you should have a guide to fish because they will know the rules.

A new size limit was recently enacted for halibut.  You can still only catch two fish, but, now, one of them has to be at least 37 inches long.  The fishing guides are very upset about this because it will be more difficult.  Take a look at this picture of the fish we caught on our half-day cruise:

I don't think any are big enough.

Fortunately, our next trip will be an all-day trip so we should be catching 20+ pounders and they should be long enough.  And, we will be out there longer and have more opportunity to catch the bigger ones.

Enough for now...

Seward - Exit Glacier

Today, Friday the 15th, is the second day in a row of sunshine!  Most days here have been cloudy.
We drove to the Exit Glacier today (about 10 miles) and walked up the path to the glacier.

Just past the sign the water was running across the road.  I guess it is from the warmer, sunny weather lately.

This is the water on the side of the road.

This is the glacier from a distance.

The trail to the glacier was .9 miles each way.  The first half was asphalt and in the trees.  At about the .5 mile marker, the trail changed to gravel and started getting rocky and we had to do quite a bit of climbing (it is considered to be a moderately strenuous climb - and we both made it!!). 
At this point we were above the tree line and the wind was stronger and cold!

Exit Glacier is a glacier derived from the Harding Icefield in the Kenai Mountains of Alaska.  It received its name because it served as the exit for the first recorded crossing of the Harding Icefield in 1968.

This is a relief map in the Visitor's Center.  You can see the size of the Harding Icefield.  On the far right is Seward and a road that leads to the Exit Glacier.  If you double-click on the picture, you can see it.

We left the glacier and came back to the RV for a bite to eat.  Then we left with the Benson's and drove down to the shore for a view of the harbor and a game of cards!!

The city has a covered pavilion overlooking the bay.  A new cruise ship and a container ship are in port today.

That's it for today...

Seward - We've Moved

Well, we had to move from our prime spot behind the school.  The 20 amp power was a problem - the breaker kept blowing even though we didn't have any major appliance running.
So now we are located in front of the school in the parking lot (not up next to the building).  Not too pleased to be here, but it's free so I shouldn't complain.

While we have been here, we usually drive thru downtown and then along the shore.  A Celebrity cruise ship was in port yesterday.  I guess a ship comes in every other day.

On July 4th, they had a Mt. Marathon race which is a race (climb actually) up the mountain and then down again.  It is about 3 miles in total.  In this picture you can see the trail up and then goes to the left.  Coming down they use the trail on the right until it meets with the trail up.

Average speed uphill is 2 mph. Average speed downhill is 12 mph. It is not uncommon for the racers who finish to cross the finish line injured or bleeding and covered in mud.

We drive around Seward whenever we go into town.  This was a rather unique house and yard.

To be fully appreciated, you should really double-click on them.

We took a drive west of Seward (the road only goes about 4 miles further) and saw this waterfall and had to have our pictures taken.  The water flows into Resurrection Bay which is a popular fishing spot.

That's all for now...